(03-28) 09:42 PDT SAN FRANCISCO -- A former dean of education at the University of San Francisco was sentenced in federal court Tuesday to five years and three months in prison for possessing child po..ography obtained on the Internet.

William Garner, 67, was also ordered by U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker to pay $50,000 in restitution to a charity, the San Francisco Child Abuse Prevention Center.

The sentence and restitution were agreed to by prosecution and defense when Garner pleaded guilty before Walker in San Francisco in December to one count of pornography possession.

Attorneys on both sides agreed in sentencing memoranda filed with Walker that Garner had collected 5,537 images of child pornography

Garner told the judge Tuesday, "I deeply regret the shock and embarrassment I caused to my wife, my friends and my colleagues. I deeply regret what I've done to myself."

Garner taught at USF, a Jesuit Catholic University, from 1979 until he retired in July 2006 and was dean of the School of Education from1983 to 1987.

Walker said the crime was "fueled by defendant's drinking problem" and agreed to a defense request to recommend that Garner be assigned to a prison with a 500-hour alcohol rehabilitation program.

He ordered Garner, who is now free on a $50,000 bond, to surrender to authorities no later than June 18 or earlier if he is given an earlier date by whatever institution he is assigned to by the U.S. Bureau of Prisons.

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